Titan II

Mission

Titan II is a medium-lift space launch vehicle used to carry payloads
for the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NSASA) and National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These payloads include the USAF Defense
Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the NOAA weather satellites. The Titan II is
launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

Features

The Titan II space launch vehicle is a two-stage liquid fueled booster,
designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It is able to lift
approximately 4,200 pounds into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consists
of a ground ignited LR87 liquid propellant rocket, while the second stage consists of a
LR91 liquid propellant rocket.

Background

The Titan family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force
awarded Lockheed Martin (formerly the Martin Company) a contract to build an
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I, the
nations first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. More than 140
Titan II ICBMs, once the vanguard of Americas strategic deterrent force, were built.
Titan IIs also were flown in NASAs Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s.

The Titan II space-launch vehicles are decommissioned ICBMs that have
been refurbished and equipped with hardware required for use as space launch vehicles. The
Martin Marietta Astronautics Group was awarded a contract in January 1986 to refurbish,
integrate, and launch fourteen Titan II ICBMs for government space launch requirements.

Deactivation of the Titan II ICBM system began in July 1982 and was completed in June
1987. The deactivated missiles are now in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. The Air
Force successfully launched the first Titan II space launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB
September 5, 1988. NASAs Clementine spacecraft, which was launched aboard a Titan II
in January 1994, discovered water on the moon in November 1996.